OGDEN, Utah – With a wave and a kiss, one of the most iconic, unique and memorable careers in recent Big Sky basketball history closed another chapter.
In his final game at the Dee Events Center, Weber State’s Dillon Jones scored 21 points and added 14 rebounds and seven assists as the Wildcats clamped down on Northern Arizona in the second half for an 85-58 win.
Jones was the last of Weber State’s three seniors to leave the game. As he was substituted, he waved to the fans, then walked over to the Wildcat logo at center court, bent down and kissed the hardwood.
“Kissing the court, I don’t even know if people still do that these days,” Jones said. “I didn’t plan it or nothing. I just thought about it when I was dapping everybody up and I just did it. … We’re so caught up, going game to game, this scout, that scout, opponent after opponent, very rarely do you get the opportunity to celebrate the moments and take in the times like that.”
Jones and the Wildcats still have one more regular-season game on Monday against Montana State in Bozeman, as well as the Big Sky tournament in Boise and likely some kind of postseason tournament after that.
But Saturday was Jones’ final time playing in the arena where the burly forward from Columbia, South Carolina, built an unbreakable connection with fans over four years in Ogden.
With his rare productiveness, his bullying style and his decision to stay at Weber State after drawing NBA interest last season, Jones has crafted a truly unforgettable career with the Wildcats.
In front of 5,681 fans who braved a late-winter snowstorm to mark the occasion, Jones and his fellow seniors Steven Verplancken and KJ Cunningham went out with a win as Weber State stifled NAU in the second half.
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Weber State led 40-34 at halftime, but held Northern Arizona without a field goal for nearly 14 minutes in the second half. Between Trenton McLaughlin’s layup with 16:58 to go and Arman Madi’s 3-pointer with 2:59 left, the Lumberjacks scored just 10 points – all on free throws – and Weber State’s lead ballooned from four points to 28.
That let Weber State head coach Eric Duft to take out his three seniors one-by-one – first Cunningham, then Verplancken and then Jones.
“I think if you tried to write the script for how you wanted it to end for those guys at home, you probably couldn’t have done much better than tonight,” Duft said. “To be able to take those guys out and let the crowd recognize who those guys have been…What I would say about my seniors is they’re better people than they are players, and they’re awfully good players.”
Cunningham arrived in Ogden the year before Jones, taking advantage of the extra COVID year to play five seasons at Weber State. Verplancken arrived two years after, transferring in from Southern Illinois and revitalizing his career.
“This place changed my life,” Verplancken said. “Before I came here, I was almost going to give up basketball. Mentally, I was down a lot, and I came here and the coaching staff gave me life. Through the ups and downs, they stuck with me. They gave me confidence and more than that, Weber made my life better.”
In this day and age, Jones has the most unique career of all three, a legitimate Power 5 talent who turned down big-money NIL offers to play all four years at Weber State.
He’ll have the opportunity, in coming years, to play in arenas larger and more prestigious than the Dee Events Center.
But it’s not likely that many of them will mean as much – and anyone doubting that only had to look at the tears in his eyes as he was honored before the game, and the way he kissed the floor as his memorable career in Ogden finally ended.
“At every game since I’ve been here, I’m the last one to walk to the bench after we warm up,” Jones said. “And it didn’t hit me until then because it was literally going to be my last time doing that. I don’t try to get caught up in that stuff, but it was hard to ignore it, you know? I was surprised I was getting emotional. But I think it just shows the real investment I’ve had here. This school became a part of my journey.”
